Chef Guy Vaknin, the owner of successful vegan restaurants in New York—City Roots, Reverie, Willow, Le Basque, the Sentir sushi chain and Coletta—revealed in a recent interview with Israel Hayom an ongoing campaign of harassment, threats and antisemitic incitement against him.
“They’ve been after me for two years,” he said. “I tried to stay out of politics, but they threatened my children. They even sent me photos of my son. These people are sick.”
Vaknin, who grew up in Sderot, near the Gaza Strip, with a single mother and later immigrated to the U.S. to pursue his culinary dream, described the difficult road to success. As a young man, he served as an infantryman in the Samson Unit before turning to the culinary world after his release from the army.
“I started with a hole in the wall, just 12 seats. For 15 years, I’ve worked like crazy. I don’t know many chefs who managed to build what I did without piles of investors.”
His vision, he explains, was to create vegan restaurants that offered the experience of a traditional dining setting. “Each restaurant has a different style—French, Mexican, Italian, American, Mediterranean. Two of them are sushi restaurants. The whole idea was to cook, to do what I love, and to create vegan food.”
After Oct. 7, it all collapsed
But everything changed after Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists massacred civilians in southern Israel. “Until then, people celebrated me at the highest levels. They kissed my hand at the restaurant, came to eat three times a week. After Oct. 7, it all collapsed.”
In recent weeks, the campaign against him has intensified on the Instagram account “Vegans for Palestine,” which called for a boycott of his restaurants, accusing him of being “Zionist” and of “using veganism to whitewash Israel’s crimes.” Posts spread rapidly, went viral, and were soon followed by direct threats.
“It got to the point where you have to hide that you’re Israeli. But I won’t. I don’t go around shouting it in the street, but I won’t hide it either. It’s insane. The world has gone mad.”
The threats moved from online to the real world. Slogans such as “Free Gaza” were scrawled on bathroom walls in his restaurants, storefront windows were smashed and former employees were approached by hostile groups trying to recruit them against him.
“This is a group of people who claim to care about the world, but in reality, they’re trying to destroy us. It’s absurd—they’re vegans, yet filled with burning hatred.”
His children threatened and his restaurants vandalized
What makes it worse, he says, is that the hostility is coming not from violent extremists but from the liberal vegan community.
“It’s not a bunch of crazy Muslims randomly attacking. It’s a group of white, woke vegans who sit behind a computer and can tear apart everything you built in 15 years. They smear your name, and you’re left banging your head against the wall.”
The fear is constant. “I went to the police with the messages, but because my Instagram profile is public, they said there’s nothing they can do. I carry a pocketknife in case something happens. It’s horrific. The idea that someone would even think of harming your kids drives you insane.”
He says he is deeply worried for his staff. “What can my employees do? In the end, I’m the leader. It’s on me to make sure the business runs and that they have jobs. But it’s already hurting us. A year ago, we had 315 workers; now we’re down to 250. If this doesn’t stop, it could become catastrophic.”
Vaknin concludes in anguish: “I feel like they’re trying to kill us as human beings. I never imagined, in my worst nightmares, that I’d end up in this situation. It’s terrible for me, my family and my workers.
“There are people whose only purpose is to destroy—and others who just want to build. It’s very much like what’s happening in Israel: One side builds life, while the other tries to destroy it. And that’s how it feels here too.”
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
